A Dad’s quest to find the perfect family car

I came across this post on Cars for Girls that includes copy from a NADA Guides news release indicating that top 5 vans for 2009. Here’s the copy from the release. I’ve only had a chance to drive the Odyssey and Routan. The Odyssey is band on. It’s a smooth ride and well appointed. But the Routan. Sure, the interior is a step up from its Chrysler-born siblings, but it drives like a stodgy old van. The Odyssey Touring model was a far more luxurious ride.

NADAguides says the 2009 Honda Odyssey is “one of the best all-around minivans on the market,” and they like it because it comes with 244-hp V6, seating for up to eight passengers, a smooth ride and “quality fit and finish.” They also note the Odyssey is safe too, with side-curtain airbags for all three rows, anti-lock brakes, electronic stability control and traction control.

NADAguides says the 2009 Toyota Sienna is quiet on the road and offers a “beautiful ride in a spacious and well-equipped cabin.” The optional AWD Toyota Sienna also made the list. NADAguides likes the powerful 266 horsepower 3.5-liter V6, sleek exterior styling and list of optional equipment, including navigation, a back-up camera and rear seat DVD entertainment.

A Volkswagen and Chrysler pair-up created the 2009 Volkswagen Routan, a seven-passenger minivan with VW-inspired styling. The Routan made the NADAguides list because they love the amenities, including a power lift gate and two power sliding side doors, rear DVD entertainment with screens for the second and third rows, touch screen navigation and more cup holders than you’ll know what to do with.

The smallest van on the list, the 2009 Mazda MAZDA5 still comes with six-passenger seating, a nice size cargo area and second and third-row folding seats. The MAZDA5 also includes such safety features as side-curtain airbags on all three rows.

The 2009 Chrysler Town and Country features optional Swivel ‘n Go seating and a Stow ‘n Go system with folding second and third rows, which are great features for people who enjoy or need flexible seating and cargo space.

As a loyal VW driver, this is not the post I was expecting to write. We have just spent an afternoon in Bay Ridge where many of the Brooklyn car dealers are located. If we were to have bought a car today, it would have been the Honda Odyssey, hands down. Why? Service.

The sales rep we met at Bay Ridge Honda was great. He was personable and understanding.

The Honda Odyssey Touring Edition drove beautifully

The VW sales rep at Life Quality Volkswagen on the other hand was perhaps the least helpful sales rep we’ve ever met and on the verge of being confrontational. In fact, I can pretty confidently say the we will not be visiting Life Quality VW again. The experience was so bad, we ended slamming them (like many others it seems) on CitySearch.

The folks at Life Quality Volkswagen have forgotten why they’re in business; because of the customer. All they wanted from our visit was a quick sale. It didn’t matter that we were doing research and loyal VW owners for the last 15 years. They didn’t care that we are about to have a third baby and that it was our only chance to get out for a test drive before our new arrival. The fact that we were there several months before our planned purchase really put them out. I can understand that they’d want a sale before the year is out (it’s not been a great year for car sales), but at the detriment of losing a sale for next year? Come on. It was a horrible experience that will quite possibly turn us away from VW for our next purchase.

Who stole VW's soul? The bad car salesperson.

We had an opportunity to drive the Routan SE, a less equipped model than we want. It was a terrible drive, but I’m not sure if it was the overall experience or the fact that it simply drove very poorly. There was no comparison to the Odyssey Touring model I drove. So for now, the Routan is off the list. It could have been such an easy decision for us.

So we’re coming to terms with the fact that practically every car maker does not have a really fuel efficient option in the minivan of SUV category. The mpg ratings of the cars are better, but really not where they should be for the conscious consumer. So we’ve switched part of our analysis from mpg efficiency to emissions and we’re looking at ULEV II (ultra low emission vehicle) ratings. The good news is many of the vehicles we’re looking at, including the VW Routan, Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna all have ULEV II ratings.

The 2009 VW Routan was our top pick, but the SE model didn't drive well

In our research, we admire the efficiency of clean diesel cars in Europe. Even the VW Jetta TDI gets 40-50 mpg and has ultra low emissions. Future concept cars like the Renault Ondelios look… well… futuristic, but efficient with “fuel consumption at a frugal 4.5 litres/100km and CO2 emissions at a lowly 120g/km.” This is equivalent to slightly more than 52 miles per gallon. Wow. And it seats six passengers. Why aren’t we there yet? The cars we’re stuck looking at today only get half this efficiency at best.

We have been thinking that one solution is to down size our car seats. This would allow us to fit into the Jetta TDI. As former Jetta Wagon owners, we’d be happy to go back. But we’d only be able to transport ourselves. There’s no room for grandparents, other parents or kids. A family car would help us get others around. In fact this raises an interesting point. One article I read suggested that minivans get 144 passenger miles per gallon making them more efficient if you’re travelling with many people.

Finding the Perfect Family Car

I’m on a mission to find the perfect family car. What is the perfect family car? I don’t know yet. There are a ton of priorities and desires that we have. There is also the fact that our family is about to grow with the arrival of our third daughter.

While we’ve owned a car in the past, we’ve lived without one for the last two years. This is big. And I’m by no means an expert, but as the Dad with a conscience I want to make sure we make the right decision. It will be a decision based on the safety of our family, the costs of ownership, the cool factor, and quite significantly, our impact on the environment. Ideally we wouldn’t need to buy a car, but we will in the near future. So this blog documents our story.